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Letters to the Editor for Oct. 17, 2012

By Baker City Herald readers October 17, 2012 09:41 am

Political opposition shouldn’t include stealing signs

Our right to express our political views includes the right to put signs in our yards — pretty obvious as you drive around Baker. But there is no right to go onto private property and steal the sign you don’t agree with.

That is what happened at my house last Saturday. Should I assume that those opposing the re-election of President Obama are adding this kind of illegal action to their current list of lies?

Maryalys Urey

Baker City

Support Johnson, Mosier for Baker City Council

Support Barbara Johnson and Kim Mosier for City Council.

At the AAUW Candidates Forum, I was extremely impressed with the presentations of Barbara Johnson and Kim Mosier for City Council. Barbara Johnson’s warmth, willingness to listen, and many years of dedication to community leadership positions will contribute to the strength of our council’s decisions.

Barbara and her husband, Ken, chose to move to Baker City eight years ago, cherishing the wonderful small-town atmosphere and community spirit of our town. Both immediately “connected,” and became active volunteers.

I know Barbara to be a fair-minded, wise, unbiased woman, who will work to support the valuable work of the city staff and current City Council. Kim Mosier has served Baker as deputy district attorney and county counsel starting in 2003, then moved away for an Oregon Attorney General’s Office position.

She and her husband returned in 2008 to raise their young children in Baker City, sharing their love of outdoor activities and passion for community values. Kim cares greatly about the issues that improve the livability of Baker, including community safety, parks, and public services.

Kim’s experience combines logical decision-making with the fresh voice of young families in Baker City. I believe we need the perspectives of both these women. I urge you to vote for Barbara Johnson and Kim Mosier for Baker City Council.

Kata Bulinski

Baker City

Vote for fairness: ‘Yes’ on Ballot Measure 84

Voters: We have a chance to strike a blow for fairness by voting “Yes” on Measure 84 this November. Measure 84 phases out the Oregon Death Tax (estate tax) over the next three years, and eliminates it entirely as of Jan. 1, 2016.

The Death Tax is a double tax. You work hard all your life, pay your income and property taxes, and then the state taxes your property, again, when you die and your heirs are left with the bill! And guess who gets paid first from the estate ... it isn’t your heirs!

Strike a blow for fairness and freedom and vote “Yes” on Measure 84.

Peggie Longwell

Americans for Prosperity

Chapter Leader, Baker County

Segers would help us; Walden not so much

At the Baker candidates’ forum we heard repeatedly how our state and local governments are strapped for cash. But America is not a poor nation.

The problem is that our wealth is increasingly going to a few exceptionally wealthy individuals who are paying historically low taxes. According to IRS records, the top 5 percent now take in about one-third of our total income. It’s starving consumer demand, and that hurts everyone.

I believe we need a U.S. Congress that can counter this upward redistribution of wealth from the middle class to the rich that started decades ago. Without correction, life will continue to be sucked from the middle class, the economy will continue to stagnate, and only the wealthy will benefit from the American dream.

If we re-elect Greg Walden, our economy will likely continue to be held hostage by right-wing extremists in the House of Representatives. Walden has gone along with them, rubberstamping a whole series of costly measures, including the Bush tax cuts, the Iraq war, the debt-ceiling crisis, the Ryan-Romney Budget which ends Medicare as we know it, and against Wall Street reform.

Ryan-Romney are, despite false denials, also calling for even more tax cuts for millionaires and austerity spending cuts, both of which will lead to lost jobs as they have in Europe, and they don’t even start reducing the national debt for decades. And Walden will fall right in line and vote with them.

If, instead, we elect Democratic candidate Joyce Segers, we will have a chance to free ourselves from the no-new-taxes pledge that the Republicans have signed (oh, yes, including Walden, Romney, and Ryan) and adopt fair and sensible plans to recycle some of the trillions now sitting in Cayman Islands banks and elsewhere, currently unavailable to reduce our national debt and get the economy moving.

The overriding issue here is not between Republicans and Democrats. It’s between the 1 percent “haves” and the 99 percent “have nots.” The stakes could not be greater.

Vote for Joyce Segers. We won’t get the help we need, if Greg Walden remains in office.

Marshall McComb

Baker City

Pope’s guidance will be needed on City Council

Although I don’t live in the city of Baker, and accordingly am not able to cast voters in the City Council race, I would like to encourage those who do qualify to cast a vote, to do so for someone who is best qualified for the job. More importantly, one who has the integrity to always do the right thing, and to demand no less of his colleagues. That person is retired Circuit Court Judge, Milo Pope.

I had the privilege of working for six years, appearing frequently before Judge Pope in Baker County Circuit Court, on behalf of the public, and children, presenting cases related to juvenile offenders and abused children. Although at times I did not agree with his disposition of cases, I always admired him for his candor, wisdom, courtesy, and above all his brutal honesty. When I felt he had erred on a decision, he always did so on the side of compassion in his effort to bring out the best in people and to encourage them to become an asset to their community. Many times, he provided the encouragement and impetus for change in folks, who theretofore had no concept as to what it meant to be a valued part of their community.

Mr. Pope is one who truly cares for people, and for the welfare of this great place we call Baker City. He is always unerringly mindful of ethics and legality in his work, and uses his legal knowledge and needed background to interdict on council decisions which may prove costly to the city. With the number of newly elected folks who will be coming onto the council, his guidance will be greatly needed. I encourage your vote to retain a candidate that the future of Baker City badly needs: Milo Pope.